On reconfigurable fabrics and generic side-channel countermeasures

The use of field programmable devices in security-critical applications is growing in popularity; in part, this can be attributed to their potential for balancing metrics such as efficiency and algorithm agility. However, in common with non-programmable alternatives, physical attack techniques such as fault and power analysis are a threat. We investigate a family of next-generation field programmable devices, specifically those based on the concept of time multiplexing, within this context: our results support the premise that extra, inherent flexibility in such devices can offer a range of possibilities for low-overhead, generic countermeasures against physical attack.